753 


1908 


BOISE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB 


*t 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

o 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


^^ 

I 


• 


XV 


I  S  E 


IDAHO 


y 


Oregon  Short  Line  Depot,  Boise. 


Published     by     the    .Boise     Commercial     Club 

' 


United  States  Assay  Office,  Boise. 


1"  76 


FOREWORD 

T  is  the  intent  of  this  booklet  to  present  by  picture  and  by  written  word  the 
advantages  offered  the  Homeseeker  by  the  City  of  Boise,  Idaho,  and  the  region 
tributary  thereto.  Its  publication  is  actuated  by  no  desire  to  nourish  the  pride 
of  those  who  already  live  there,  but  to  unfold  for  the  world— and  especially 
for  that  large  part  of  the  world  dissatisfied  with  its  present  environments  and 
seeking  a  new  and  better  place  to  live — such  a  plain,  straightforward  recital  of 
the  conditions  in  and  about  Boise  as  will  recommend  it  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the 
prospective  settler. 

The  time  has  been  when  the  literature  exploiting  various  communities  was  made 
up  largely  of  exaggerations.  Times  have  changed,  however,  and  without  saying  anything 
of  the  truthfulness  of  other  such  publications,  let  it  be  known  that  the  statements  of  this 
particular  booklet  are  in  scrupulous  conformity  with  facts.  That  we  set  forth  the  best 
of  this  glorious  land  we  do  not  deny.  But  never  is  the  desire  to  make  a  good  showing  per- 
mitted to  lead  us  into  enlargements  upon  the  truth.  Indeed,  there  is  no  temptation  to 
exaggeration.  Difficult  enough  it  is  to  convince  the  skeptical  of  the  truth  without  making  the 
matter  worse  by  an  indulgence  in  falsehood. 

Read  the  following  pages  then,  Mr.  Homeseeker,  believing  that  what  they  contain  in 
statement  and  in  illustration  is  true,  and  that  they  contain  a  message  for  you — a  message  that 
is  an  invitation  and  an  appeal  to  come,  behold  and  partake  of  the  abundant  opportunities  that 
exist  in  and  about  the  beautiful  city  of  Boise,  Idaho. 

For  details  not  given  in  this  booklet,  address  "  Boise  Commercial   Club,  Boise,  Idaho." 


Boise  is  surrounded  by  a  country  of  great  fertility  and  remarkable  possibilities. 

ranch  near  the  city. 


This  view  shows  a  fine  Holstein  dairy 


A  band  of  thoroughbred  sheep  near  Boise. 


Lake  in   Pierce  Park,  Boise. 


BOISE      IDAHO 


A  Bit  of  History 


Southern  Idaho. 
was    established. 


HE  birth  of  Boise  was  coincident  with  the 
historic  gold  rush  of  1862,  when  it  was 
told  with  bated  breath  that  the  yellow 
metal,  in  quantities  exceeding  the  wild- 
est dreams  of  the  prospector,  had  been 
found  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  of 
Idaho  City,  about  36  miles  from  Boise, 
and  in  1864,  only  two  years  later, 
had  a  voting  population  of  16,000.  In  eight  years  the  camp 
produced  approximately  $2(10,000.000.00  in  placer  gold.  In 
1863  Port  Boise  was  established  on  the  Boise  River,  and  in 
the  same  year  Boise  City  was  laid  out  on  the  plain  between 
the  fort  and  the  river.  In  1890,  when  Idaho  was  admitted 
to  the  Union.  Boise,  then  with  a  population  of  3,000,  was 
made  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  attained,  thereby,  some 
degree  of  public  attention.  The  early  years  of  its  existence 


were  full  of  the  uncertainties  and  the  struggles  that  char- 
acterize the  development  of  every  community  in  a  new 
land.  But,  surmounting  all  obstacles,  full  of  faith  in  the 
future,  believing  in  themselves  and  in  the  glorious  region 
which  had  been  given  them  as  a  rich  heritage,  these  sturdy 
pioneers  builded  and  builded  well  the  firm  foundation  of 
the  present  fair  city  of  Boise  and  the  far  fairer  city  of  the 
future.  Upon  these  foundations  is  building  a  city  of  mag- 
nificent proportions,  of  such  beauty  and  such  evident 
prosperity  that  those  who  look  back  to  the  struggling  set- 
tlement of  45  years  ago  can  hardly  believe  that  the  Boise 
of  1863  and  of  1908  are  one  and  the  same. 

This  growth,  marvelous  as  it  has  been,  is  not  the  in- 
flated product  of  any  boom  or  transient  conditions,  but 
is  the  logical,  inevitable  result  of  conditions  that  are  as 
stable  as  the  earth  itself. 


Page  8 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


The  Secret  of  a  City's  Greatness 


HE  secret  of  why  a  city  is  great  is,  con- 
tradictorily, no  secret  at  all,  but  the 
working  out  of  natural  laws.  Generally 
speaking,  a  city  is  great  because,  by  rea- 
son of  its  location,  it  is  the  natural  mar- 
ket and  distributing  point  for  a  region 
of  great  productivity.  As  this  tributory 
region  develops,  so  the  city  will  develop. 


Business  Buildings,  Boise. 


Other  factors  may  enter  in,  as  railroads,  harbors,  etc.,  but 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  a  city  grows  as  the  country  behind 
it  grows. 

The  question  arises,  then,  What  is  the  country  behind 
Boise?  And  it  is  a  pleasure  to  answer  that  question.  A 
glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  Boise  is  the  unchallenged 
industrial  nucleus  and  distributing  center  for  a  vast  ter- 
ritory, bounded,  roughly,  by  the  eastern  and  southern 
boundaries  of  the  state,  reaching  up  into  the  "pan  handle" 
on  the  north  and  far  into  Eastern  Oregon  on  the  west. 
This  immense  territory,  nearly  400,000  square  miles  of 
potential  wealth,  is  not  excelled  by  any  area  of  equal  size 
in  America.  Over  the  wide  realm  Boise  reigns  supreme. 
Of  course,  there  are  many  other  thriving  communities, 
towns  that  will  themselves  grow  to  cities  as  large  as 
Boise  is  now;  but  Boise's  place  as  capital  and  metropolis 
is  too  secure  to  permit  the  question  of  competition  ever 
to  arise. 

Southern  Idaho 

ITTHI<:R\  IDAHO  is  a  rectangular  sec- 
tion of  country  about  the  size  and  shape 
of  the  state  of  Kansas.  It  is  bounded  by 
high  and  rugged  mountain  chains,  which 
store  its  water  supply  and  hold  it  well 
into  the  Summer  season.  The  Snake 
River  rises  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
this  rectangle,  flows  southwesterly  for 
about  200  miles,  turns  sharply  to  the  west  at  American 
Falls,  and  after  following  that  course  for  about  150  miles, 
it  turns  northwesterly  and  leaves  the  Southern  Idaho  rec- 
tangle at  its  northwest  corner.  The  mountain  boundaries 
of  this  section  are  of  granite  formation.  During  the  ages 


Street  scenes,  Boise,  showing  the  Idaho  Trust  and  Savings  Bank  building  on  the  left,  and  the  Sonna  building  on  the  right. 


of  the  formation  of  the  valley  a  series  of  volcanic  craters 
located  along  its  northern  boundary  sent  forth  streams 
of  lava,  which  flowed  across  it  to  the  southwest.  Suc- 
cessive eruptions  followed,  at  periods  of  ages,  and  be- 
tween each  there  was  formed  a  layer  of  soil  and  dis- 


integrated rock.  Since  the  last  overflow  the  glacial  period 
has  come  and  gone,  and  the  upper  and  lower  ends  of  the 
valley  are  seared  with  deep  gashes  cut  by  the  glaciers,  and 
great  moraines  of  sand  and  gravel  have  been  left  on  the 
surface  of  the  plain.  After  this  period  various  upheavals 


A  Boise  Valley  Ranch. 


Pear  Orchard  near  Boise. 


Page  12 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


of  the  earth  have  thrown  up  along  the  borders  high  ranges 
of  lava  mountains  and  across  the  center,  where  is  now 
the  great  canyon  of  the  Snake  River,  there  is  a  mighty 
crack,  through  the  bottom  of  which  now  the  Snake  River 
rushes  and  writhes  and  falls  over  many  precipices,  form- 
ing some  of  the  most  magnificent  waterfalls  and  rapids 
in  the  world. 

The  center  of  this  valley  is  volcanic  ash,  mixed  with 
disintegrated  lava,  and  the  sand  and  gravel  of  the  glacial 
moraines.  The  lowest  point  in  the  valley  in  Southern 
Idaho  is  2,100  feet,  and  the  highest  point  some  7,000  feet. 
The  Snake  River,  with  its  tributaries,  gives  the  greatest 
water  supply  for  irrigation  of  any  other  equal  area  in 
the  world. 

It  is  due  to  this  fact  that  at  the  present  time  there  are 
here  in  course  of  construction  more  irrigation  projects 
than  any  other  locality  can  boast,  and  all  of  them  are 
meritorious  because  there  is  water  for  all  and  to  spare. 
Southern  Idaho  has  now  practically  3,000,000  acres  of 
these  rich  lands  under  water,  which  will  mean  an  area 
with  a  productivity  inferior  to  no  state  in  the  Union.  This 
fact  also  suggests  something  of  the  opportunity  that 
Southern  Idaho  offers  the  Homeseeker  who  is  alive  to  the 
situation.  It  is  the  successful  farmer  who  has  appreciated 
such  conditions  in  the  past  and  made  the  most  of  them. 
While  Idaho  does  not  present  the  same  opportunity  that  it 
did  to  the  pioneer  years  ago,  the  opportunity  of  today  is, 
nevertheless,  most  attractive  and,  in  many  respects,  greater 
than  that  of  the  past.  The  newcomer  today  has  the  exper- 
ience and  work  of  the  past  to  guide  him,  and  when  the  de- 
velopments in  irrigation  are  considered,  his  opportunities 
are  almost  infinitely  greater  than  were  those  of  the  pioneer 
who  blazed  the  way  for  the  homeseeker  of  today. 


The  Boise  Valley 

HE  headwaters  of  the  North  Fork  of  the 
Boise  River  are  in  Boise  County,  toward 
the  center  of  the  state;  those  of  the 
South  Fork  in  Elmore  County.  United, 
the  augmented  current  flows  westward 
to  its  confluence  with  the  Snake.  Be- 
fore it  empties  into  that  tortuous  stream, 
the  Boise  checks  its  headlong  course  to 
traverse  more  leisurely  the  beautiful  valley  to  which  it 
gives  its  name. 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century  and  more  this  valley,  with 
land  of  the  highest  degree  of  fertility,  has  been  under 
successful  cultivation.  The  early  settlers,  individually, 
or  by  twos  and  threes,  constructed  headgates  and 
canals,  diverting  the  waters  of  the  river  to  irrigate  their 
farms.  The  results  have  been  phenomenal,  almost  pass- 
ing belief.  Such  crops  as  the  new  settlers  had  never 
dreamed  of  were  produced  with  unfailing  regularity.  All 
of  the  elements  seemed  to  have  conspired  to  produce  condi- 
tions most  favorable  to  plant  life.  Nearly  all  the  products 
of  the  temperate  zone  grow  abundantly:  the  cereals,  ex- 
cepting corn;  grasses,  especially  timothy,  clover  and  al- 
falfa; fruits,  to  a  degree  of  success  hardly  attained  ex- 
cept in  the  few  most  famed  districts  of  the  Northwest; 
small  fruits  and  berries;  potatoes  and  garden  vegetables; 
and,  last,  but  far  from  least,  sugar  beets. 

The  development  of  stock-raising  followed  close  upon 
agriculture  and  horticulture.  Sheep  and  cattle  were 
brought  down  from  the  great  public  ranges  to  be  finished 
on  the  succulent  grasses  of  the  meadow  bottoms.  The 
dairy  cow  was  introduced  and  milk  in  increased  volume 


Forest  near  Boise, 


Page  14 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


and  richness  was  the  result.  It  was  found  possible  to  fit 
hogs  for  market  on  alfalfa  without  a  kernel  of  grain. 
Pine  horses  were  bred.  Poultry  was  raised  to  excellent 
profit. 

In  a  word,  it  was  found  that  anything  that  could  be 
done  with  land  elsewhere  could  be  done  equally  well  in 
the  Boise  Valley  and  many  things  a  great  deal  better. 
Today  the  valley  is  a  highly  developed  agricultural  region, 
but  it  has  by  no  means  reached  its  highest  degree  of  pro- 


Residence  of  U.  S.  Senator  W.  E.  Borah,  Boise. 


ductivity.  Until  the  last  few  years  general  farming  has 
been  practiced,  but  now  it  is  becoming  evident  that  the 
land  is  too  valuable  for  ordinary  crops.  So  the  large 
ranches  are  being  broken  up  into  units  of  ten  and  twenty 
acres,  where  intensified  agriculture  is  practiced.  As  a 
result,  the  population  of  the  valley  has  increased  wonder- 
fully, and,  as  the  movement  continues,  it  is  bound  to  be 
doubled  and  trebled. 

Indications  point  to  the  fact  that  the  movement  west- 
ward will  be  accentuated  during  the  next  few  years,  and 
with  the  increase  in  population  land  values  will  corre- 
spondingly increase.  It  is  certain  that  to  the  farmer  of  the 
East  or  Middle  West,  dissatisfied  with  climatic  and  other 
hard  conditions,  there  will  never  come  a  greater  opportu- 
nity than  is  to  be  found  today  in  the  West,  and  especially 
in  this  section.  "Tomorrow"  land  values  may  be — doubt- 
less will  be — higher,  and  land  more  difficult  to  secure.  The 
time  is  NOW  to  go  westward,  and  the  wise  man  will  care- 
fully balance  conditions  before  making  a  final  choice.  The 
region  tributary  to  Boise  confidently  puts  forward  its 
claims  because  of  the  facts  just  set  forth. 

Later  on,  in  this  publication,  the  various  crops  and  in- 
dustries mentioned  above  will  be  taken  up  specifically 
and  given  detailed  discussion.  Here  the  intent  has  been 
only  to  produce  a  comprehensive  outline  of  the  conditions 
in  the  Boise  Valley  directly  contributary  to  Boise. 

At  the  head  of  the  Valley,  nestled  up  against  the  great 
hills  that  gird  its  northern  boundary,  is  the  city,  capital 
of  the  state  of  Idaho,  seat  of  Ada  County,  metropolis  of 
a  vast  realm  of  incalculable  potential  wealth,  the  home  of 
28,000  healthy,  prosperous  and  progressive  people,  proud 
of  their  city  and  its  place  in  the  development  of  the  great 
Northwest,  and  confident  of  the  greatness  of  its  future. 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Page  15 


Irrigation 

EYOND  question,  the  greatest  factor  in 
the  development  of  the  region  tributary 
to  Boise  is  Irrigation.  Indeed,  there  is 
small  doubt  that  it  is  the  largest  factor 
in  the  development  of  the  United  States 
today.  To  one  who  has  lived  or  trav- 
eled much  in  that  vast  region  between 
the  Cascades  and  the  Missouri-Missis- 
sippi Valley,  Irrigation  presents  nothing  that  is  new  or 
strange.  But  to  the  Easterner,  or  the  inhabitant  of  the 
Middle  West,  there  is  much  in  it  that  is  novel,  if  not  a 
little  mysterious.  On  any  one  of  the  great  transcon- 
tinental lines  the  traveler  crossing  the  great  American 
Desert  beholds  vast  stretches  of  arid  land,  producing  noth- 
ing but  sage  brush,  supporting  no  life  but  the  coyote 
and  the  buzzard.  Not  unnaturally  he  concludes  that  this 
seeming  sterility  is  due  to  a  lack  of  fertile  quality  in 
the  soil.  On  the  contrary,  the  soil  is  the  most  fertile  in 
the  world.  All  that  is  needed  to  make  it  spring  into 
luxuriant  vegetation  is  water.  Sage  brush  thrives  merely 
because  Nature,  abhorring  waste,  has  fashioned  the  sage 
— with  the  least  possible  leaf  surface,  therefore  losing 
the  least  possible  moisture  by  evaporation — to  thrive  in 
a  land  where  the  rainfall  is  next  to  nothing.  The  absence 
of  adequate  rainfall  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  great 
moisture-bearing  clouds,  swept  eastward  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  coming  into  contact  with  the  mountains,  am 
••arried  upward  and  mado  to  precipitate  their  moisture 
by  the  increased  altitude.  Thus  the  thirsty  regions  lying 
east  of  the  mountains  are  robbed  of  their  due  proportion 
of  rainfall  and  are  left  arid. 


Prom  before  the  dawn  of  history  man  has  under- 
stood and  applied  the  principles  of  irrigation.  In  the 
valleys  of  the  Ganges,  the  Euphrates,  the  Nile,  centers 
of  the  first  great  civilizations,  extensive  systems  of 
artificial  watering  were  carried  on.  In  South  and  Central 
America  and  Mexico  irrigation  was  practiced,  and  in 
Arizona  evidences  of  systems  for  artificial  watering  of 
considerable  magnitude  have  been  discovered.  So,  in- 
stead of  being  an  experiment,  it  is,  so  far  as  its  antiquity 


Postoffice,  Boise. 


Page  16 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


is  concerned,  about  as  far  from  it  as  anything  that  can 
be  conceived  of. 

It  is  but  of  comparatively  recent  years  that  any  con- 
siderable attention  has  been  given  to  irrigation  in  the 
United  States,  and  still  more  recently  has  it  been  taken 
up  by  the  United  States  Government.  But  with  the  occu- 
pancy of  practically  all  the  humid  lands,  and  the  success- 
ful application  of  irrigation  by  private  enterprise,  public 
attention  has  been  won,  capital  interested,  legislation  en- 
acted, until  now  millions  of  acres  have  been  seized  back 


Pressed  Brick  Plant  near  Boise. 


from  the  desert,  millions  upon  millions  of  capital  invested 
and  homes  provided  for  a  million  people.  And  this  is 
but  the  beginning.  In  every  direction  the  "ditch"  of  the 
irrigator  is  extending  its  potent  arm  and  reaching  out 
tiny  life-giving  fingers  to  reclaim  the  soil  from  the  desert. 
The  extent  to  which  irrigation  may  be  carried  is  limited 
only  by  the  available  water  supply.  And  there  is  no  say- 
ing how  far,  when  the  need  arises,  the  engineering  skill 
or  the  mechanical  daring  of  man  will  go  toward  over- 
coming the  obstacles  that  Nature  has  interposed. 

Irrigation  in  Idaho 

0  the  State  of  Idaho  irrigation  is  of  pecu- 
liar significance.  This  great  common- 
wealth is  practically  all  arid  or  semi-arid. 
On  the  other  hand,  by  reason  of  her  great 
available  water  supply,  and  the  topo- 
graphical conditions  that  prevail,  Idaho 
provides  an  exceptional  field  for  the  ef- 
fectuation of  great  irrigation  undertak- 
ings. The  Federal  Government  has  taken  up  the  work, 
and  has  launched  reclamation  enterprises  of  tremendous 
magnitude,  and  has  passed  laws  making  it  possible  for 
individuals  or  corporations  to  enter  upon  like  enterprises. 

In  Southern  Idaho  alone,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  year,  2,931,753  acres  were  under  canals,  and  over 
half  that  amount  actually  irrigated.  There  were  8,876 
miles  of  canals  constructed  at  a  cost  of  $19,907,721.00. 
And  since  that  time  projects  involving  hundreds  upon 
hundreds  of  tliousas'ds  of  acres  more  have  been  launched, 
until  the  sum  total  simply  staggers  the  imagination.  More 


Placer  Mining  in  the  Boise  Basin. 


Page  18 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


money  has  been  spent  in  Idaho  for  reclamation  purposes 
than  in  any  other  state  in  the  Union. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  federal  legislation  affecting 
irrigation.  By  far  the  most  important  of  these  statutes 
and  one  representing  the  greatest  possible  benefit  to  cap- 
italist and  investor  alike  is  the  "Carey  Act." 

The  Carey  Act 

EDUCED  to  its  lowest  terms,  this  wise 
and  beneficent  statute  provides  that,  a 
certain  tract  of  Government  land  hav- 
ing been  determined  upon  as  suitable 
for  reclamation,  the  corporation  desir- 
ing to  construct  irrigation  works  there- 
on, for  the  purpose  of  reclaiming  the 
land  under  the  act,  files  with  the  State 
Board  of  Land  Commissioners  its  application,  together 
with  its  proposal  for  constructing  the  works  and  all  other 
details  as  to  source  of  water,  estimate  of  cost  of  construc- 
tion, terms  of  water  rental,  etc.  These  plans  accepted  by 
the  State  Board,  application  is  made  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  for  a  segregation  of  the  lands  embraced  in 
the  application  and  an  adequate  bond  having  been  given, 
with  the  final  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  the 
project  is  authorized.  The  law  contains  further  clauses 
affecting  the  terms  of  sale,  insuring  the  immediate  settle- 
ment and  cultivation  of  the  land,  and  providing  an  effec- 
tual preventive  against  the  speculative  holding  of  large 
tracts  of  land. 

The  stimulative  effect  of  this  enactment  was  immedi- 
ately felt,  and  no  state  has  profited  so  greatly  as  Idaho. 
Already  the  million  acres,  the  maximum  extent  to  which 


any  one  state  may  segregate  lands  under  the  Carey  Act, 
has  been  exhausted.  The  last  session  of  Congress  allot- 
ted another  million  acres  of  Carey  lands  to  Idaho. 

Conspicuous  among  the  various  projects  benefiting  by 
the  Carey  Act  is  the  Twin  Palls  project,  on  the  Snake 
River,  in  Southern  Idaho — the  largest  and  most  success- 
ful enterprise  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  The  development 
of  the  north  and  south  banks  of  the  river  represents  a 
segregation  of  425,000  acres,  over  half  of  which  has  been 
settled  and  over  three-fourths  sold.  The  Salmon  River 
and  Wood  River  projects  and  others  bring  the  total  acre- 
age involved  up  to  nearly  the  original  million. 

Although  this  immense  development  is  only  indirectly 
tributary  to  Boise,  yet  there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that 
the  city  does  profit  tremendously  by  the  wonderful  ex- 
pansion and  upbuilding  of  the  country  to  the  south  of  her 
confines.  "Whatever  helps  Idaho  helps  Boise"  is  a  truism. 

The  Payette-Boise  Project 

N  addition  to  irrigation  by  private  enter- 
prise and  irrigation  operations  under  the 
Carey  Act,  the  U.  S.  Government,  fully 
appreciating  the  tremendous  value  to  the 
Nation  of  such  undertakings,  has  direct- 
ly engaged  in  irrigating  enterprises,  has 
already  appropriated  over  $30,000,000.00 
for  this  purpose,  and  is  preparing  to  ex- 
pend as  much  more  in  this  most  profitable  form  of  invest- 
ment. In  Idaho  the  two  great  government  projects  are  the 
Minidoka  project,  involving  130,000  to  150,000  acres,  and. 
of  vital  and  incalculable  importance  to  Boise,  the  Payette- 
Boise  project,  with  an  irrigable  area  of  372,000  acres,  and 


Scene  on  the  Boise  River. 


Page  SO 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


every  acre  directly  or  indirectly  tributary  to  Boise.  Of 
this  the  "South  Side  Division"  of  130,000  acres  is  prac- 
tically completed,  this  area  being  largely  the  wide  bench 
lands  of  mesas  adjacent  to,  or  a  part  of,  the  Boise  Valley. 
The  source  of  the  water  supply  is  the  Boise  River,  the  dis- 
charge being  regulated  by  storage  works  at  the  head- 
waters of  the  canals.  Just  completed  also  is  the  great  res- 
ervoir in  the  Boise  Valley,  with  an  area  of  9,000  acres, 
which  will  impound  water  sufficient  to  irrigate  120,000 
acres  of  land. 


Odd  Felloivs'  Temple,  Boise. 


These  enterprises  are  so  vast  and  the  figures  involved 
of  such  magnitude  that  to  add  to  them  would  be  but  tq 
produce  confusion  in  the  mind  of  the  reader.  Prom  these 
statements,  however,  some  comprehension  may  be  gained 
of  the  immensity  of  the  irrigation  projects  in  Idaho,  and 
especially  in  the  region  that  looks  to  Boise  as  its  indus- 
trial center,  market  place,  and  distributing  point. 

The  Practice  of  Irrigation 

N  operation,  irrigation  is  simplicity  itself. 
The  water  is  conveyed,  first,  in  great 
canals,  then  in  laterals  and  further  sub- 
divisions to  the  irrigable  lands.  Along 
the  upper  boundary  of  each  field  runs 
the  ditch  or  flume  controlled  by  gates, 
and  from  it  extend  transverse  furrows 
reaching  every  part  of  the  field.  When- 
ever moisture  is  needed,  the  irrigator  opens  his  gate  and 
permits  the  water  to  pour  down  the  furrows,  controlling 
its  flow  by  temporary  gates  or  dams. 

The  immeasurable  advantage  that  he  possesses  over 
the  farmer  dependent  upon  rainfall  is  immediately  evi- 
dent. Entirely  liberated  is  he  from  the  caprice  of  the 
weather.  The  operation  of  a  lever,  or  a  few  turns  of  a 
spade,  and  at  his  command  is  all  the  moisture  that  he  re- 
quires. More  than  that,  he  can  apply  or  retard  the  mois- 
ture as  best  suits  the  needs  of  the  particular  crop  under 
cultivation.  For  example,  as  every  farmer  knows,  oats, 
given  an  excess  of  moisture  when  the  oat  is  "heading," 
will  run  largely  to  straw.  This  danger  is  obviated  by 
holding  back  the  water  supply  at  the  proper  time,  so  that 
the  instinct  of  the  plant  will  tend  to  produce  the  fullest, 


The  Swan  Falls  Power  Plant,  ivhich  furnishes  power  for  Boise  and  for  the  Inter-urban  electric  line. 


Quartz  Mining  in  the  Boise  Mining  Belt. 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Page  £S 


heaviest  heads ;  for  this  reason  Idaho  oats  average  40 
pounds  to  the  bushel.  Again,  in  the  culture  of  the  sugar 
beet,  the  application  of  water  is  regulated,  so  as  to  pro- 
duce the  highest  possible  degree  of  saccharine  substance. 
Moreover,  the  farmer  in  the  irrigated  district,  unlike  his 
brother  who  is  the  plaything  of  the  elements,  is  never 
harrassed  by  untimely  rains  that  impede  his  harvests  or 
destroy  his  crops.  In  every  way,  and  in  a  sense  unknown 
under  ordinary  conditions,  he  is  "master  of  the  situa- 
tion." 

Dry  Farming 

N  spite  of  the  vast  scope  of  irrigation 
projects  undertaken  by  the  government 
and  by  private  enterprises,  there  still  re- 
main immense  areas  of  land  to  which 
the  life-giving  canals  do  not  extend.  On 
these  lands,  under  certain  conditions, 
Dry  Farming — so-called — is  practiced 
with  gratifying  results.  "Dry  Farm- 
ing" is  simply  a  name  for  agriculture  adapted  to  regions 
where  the  rainfall  is  slight.  The  government  has  become 
interested  in  this  new  undertaking,  and  has  established 
an  experiment  farm,  where  it  has  been  amply  proved  that 
certain  crops,  properly  sown  and  cultivated,  so  as  to  make 
the  most  of  the  supply  of  moisture,  will  yield  good  returns. 
And  hundreds  of  farmers  are  making  an  excellent  living 
from  the  cultivation  of  lands  without  artificial  watering. 
Statistics  are  available  showing  that,  by  dry  farming, 
wheat  will  yield  30  to  61  bushels  to  the  acre,  barley  30 
bushels,  and  potatoes  125  bushels. 


Lands  adapted  to  dry  farming  may  be  bought  for  a 
nominal  price;  there  is  no  water  right  to  pay,,  and  the 
expense  of  cultivation  is  less.  The  returns  are  not  so 
great,  but  the  investment  is  less,  and  many  scientific 
farmers  are  turning  their  attention  to  this  method  of 
cultivating  the  soil. 

Soil  and  Products 

HE  soil  of  these  districts  is  a  disintegra- 
ted volcanic  ash,  in  which  Nature  has 
secreted  all  the  chemical  elements  of 
plant  life.  Given  this,  with  unlimited 
sunshine,  and  the  opportune  application 
of  sufficient  moiture,  and  the  results  are 
such  as  are  absolutely  unknown  and  im- 
possible in  non-irrigated  districts.  And 
this,  too,  without  measurable  diminution  of  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  soil. 

An  authoritative  statement  by  a  government  expert 
contains  this  assertion : 

"An  intelligent  utilization  of  the  soil,  sunshine  and 
water  of  Southern  Idaho  will  produce  80  to  125  bushels 
of  oats  to  the  acre ;  50  to  100  bushels  of  wheat ;  400  to  600 
bushels  of  potatoes;  and  other  crops  in  proportion." 

It  is  such  facts  as  these  that  tell  the  story  of  this  land 
with  an  effectiveness  that  is  far-reaching.  We  have  only 
to  compare  the  above  facts  of  production  of  the  Idaho 
farmer  with  the  records  made  by  those  living  in  a  less  fa- 
vored section — in  the  Eastern  States,  for  example — to  ap- 
preciate fully  what  a  handicap  the  Eastern  farmer  is  under. 
Yet  the  story  of  the  West — of  Idaho — is  not  half  told  by 
figures. 


Page  24 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Iniiiiiiiii 


Boise  City  Hall 


An  enumeration  of  the  ' '  other  crops ' '  which,  by  ample  demon- 
stration are  successfully  grown  on  the  irrigated  soil  of  Southern 
Idaho  would  include  barley,  rye  and  buckwheat ;  alfalfa — the  sta- 
ple crop — clover,  timothy  and  other  grasses;  nearly  every  fruit 
known  to  horticulture,  and  embracing  apples,  pears,  peaches, 
cherries,,  prunes,  plums,  Japanese  plums,  apricots,  grapes,  straw- 
berries, currants  and  so-forth.  -Semi-tropical  crops,  as  pea- 
nuts, sweet  potatoes  and  tobacco,  have  done  splendidly.  All  va- 
rieties of  melons,  including  the  famed  Rockyford  cantaloupe,  pro- 
duce abundantly.  Garden  vegetables  of  every  description  are 
prolifically  raised.  In  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  find  anything  that  will 
not  grow  and  thrive  under  the  conditions  supplied  in  these  irri- 
gated tracts.  Given  a  soil  that  is  immeasurably  rich  in  the  ele- 
ments essential  to  plant  life,  sunshine  six  days  out  of  the  seven, 
water  supplied  in  unstinted  quantities  at  the  time  most  needed, 
and  other  climatic  conditions  most  favorable,  and  there  is  no  rea- 
son why  anything  that  grows  at  all  should  not  grow  here,  and 
grow  to  a  degree  of  luxuriance  unknown  and  unattainable  in  less 
favored  localities.  And  such  are  the  conditions  in  the  irrigated 
region  tributary  to  Boise. 

Government  Lands 

ANDS  may  also  be  acquired  directly  from  the 
United  States  Government  under  the  Desert 
Land  Act,  or  the  Homestead  Act.  By  the  for- 
mer act,  desert  land,  not  to  exceed  640  acres, 
may  be  acquired  by  paying  25  cents  per  acre 
and  expending  annually  $1.00  per  acre  on  irri- 
gation, etc.,  for  not  less  than  three  years. 
and  actually  cultivating  one-eighth  of  the  entire  acreage,  or 
by  expending  $1.00  per  acre  annually  for  four  consecutive 
years.  By  the  Homestead  Law  any  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
not  owning  over  160  acres  of  land,  may  acquire  160  acres  of 
public  land  by  residing  thereon  and  improving  the  land  for  not 


Prunes  Groum  in  Boise  Valley.     They  are  unexcelled  shippers. 


Page  26 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


less  than  five  continuous  years.  If  these  holdings  come 
under  the  "Reclamation  Law,"  the  claimant  must  also 
repay  in  annual  installments  the  proportion  of  the  cost  of 
constructing  the  irrigating  works. 

Land  Values 

!  EN  acres  of  irrigated  land  in  Southern 
Idaho,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boise,  will  sup- 
port a  man  and  his  family.  That  asser- 
tion, under  any  but  the  most  exception- 
ally unfavorable  circumstances,  will  hold 
true  ninety-nine  times  out  of  a  hundred. 
It  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  a  man 
with  no  equipment  whatever,  or  with- 
out the  necessary  industry,  can  occupy  a  ten-acre  tract  and 
expect  to  derive  a  living  therefrom.  It  does  mean,  how- 
ever, that,  with  average  health  and  energy,  a  team  of 
horses  and  the  customary  implements,  any  man  can  sup- 
port himself  and  family  from  ten  acres  of  irrigated  land 
and  put  by  a  little  nest  egg  while  he  is  doing  it.  It  is 
being  done  by  hundreds  of  families  within  a  ten-mile  ra- 
dius of  Boise.  It  has  been  ascertained  by  experience  that 
a  ten-acre  orchard,  if  properly  conducted,  requires  the  en- 
tire time  of  one  man.  and  he  cannot  do  justice  to  more  land 
without  additional  help.  This  statement,  of  course,  applies 
to  the  orchard  that  is  conducted  on  a  commercial  basis. 

The  government  statistician  suggests  45  acres  as  the 
average  holding  of  irrigated  lands.  An  80-acre  farm  is 
a  fortune,  and  when  a  man's  acres  are  counted  in  three 
figures,  he  is  considered  "wealthy." 

As  to  land  values,  a  wide  range  is  covered  depending 
as  elsewhere  upon  location,  degreo  of  improvement  of  land, 


etc.  In  weighing  these  figures,  the  prospective  settler 
from  the  East  or  Middle  West  must  keep  in  mind  the 
highly  productive  nature  of  the  soil  and  impossibility  of 
crop  failure. 

Improved  lands  under  irrigation  can  hardly  be  bought 
for  less  than  $50.00  per  acre.  The  best  lands  devoted  to 
general  farming  on  an  "alfalfa  basis"  run  from  $75.00  to 
$200.00  per  acre.  The  higher  figure  is  paid  for  farms  a 
fraction  of  which  is  in  fruit.  Orchard  lands  run  from 
$150.00  to  $500.00  per  acre. 

On  the  other  hand,  unimproved  land,  but  with  facil- 
ities for  irrigation  may  be  bought  for  $10.00  to  $50.00  per 
acre.  Desert  land,  about  to  be  reclaimed  by  the  Payette- 
Boise  project  can  be  had  for  $10.00  to  $20.00  per  acre,  to 
which  the  $30.00  (approximately)  water  right  must  be 
added. 

The  Region  Tributary  to  Boise 

0  far  the  intent  has  been  to  present  the 
general  conditions  in  the  great  irrigated 
tracts  of  Southern  Idaho,  all  of  which 
looks  to  Boise  as  its  natural  center. 
Hereafter  the  discussion  will  be  limited 
to  the  richest  and  most  attractive  por- 
tion of  this  area — if  not  of  the  entire 
Northwest — the  Boise  Valley,  immedi- 
ately and  directly  tributary  to  the  city  of  Boise.  The 
Valley  extends  in  an  easterly-westerly  direction  for  50 
miles,  and  running  from  7  to  30  miles  in  width.  Twenty- 
live  vciirs  ;igo  the  weary  homeseekers  of  an  earlier  day 
found  the  valley  a  goodly  land,  inviting  them  to  settle 


The  Nourse  hog  ranch  near  Boise. 

-irtasKjsa 


Page  28 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


needed  water,  and  the  broad  mesas  were  found  to  be  no  less 
fertile  than  the  highly  prized  bottoms. 

The  general  statements  regarding  crops,  etc.,  under  the 
section  of  "Irrigation"  will  hold  true  for  the  Boise  Val- 
ley, but  true  in  their  highest  degree.  This  is  a  land  of 
intensive  farming,  where  the  orchard  of  apples  and  prunes 
is  bringing  to  its  owner  a  princely  income. 

To  approach  the  matter  somewhat  systematically,  it 
may  be  said  that  of  the  125,000  acres  under  cultivation  in 


HI  in 

Ft 


Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building,  Boise. 


the  Boise  Valley,  three-sixths  is  in  hay — alfalfa,  timothy 
and  clover — two-sixths  in  grain — largely  wheat  and  oats — 
and  the  remainder,  one-sixth,  in  fruit.  In  addition,  a  con- 
siderable acreage  of  sugar  beets  is  planted  and  other  crops 
are  raised. 

Grains  and  Grasses 

HEAT  of  the  first  quality  will  run  40  to 
60  bushels  to  the  acre;  oats,  80  to  120 
bushels.  The  price,  of  course,  varies 
with  the  market.  Alfalfa,  the  mainstay 
of  the  irrigation  farmer,  will  yield  three 
cuts  a  year,  a  total  of  6  to  10  tons  to  the 
acre.  This  is  worth  to  him,  if  not  fed, 
from  $4.00  to  $8.00  per  ton  in  the  stack. 
Timothy  and  clover,  with  two  cuts  a  year,  will  yield  3  to 
5  and  6  tons  to  the  acre,  and  is  worth  from  $7.00  to  $10.00 
per  ton.  In  both  cases  excellent  pasturage  is  afforded. 

Horticulture 

0  the  Apple  orchardist  the  Boise  Valley 
offers  conditions  surpassed  by  no  other 
region  on  earth.  Neither  Hood  River 
nor  Rogue  River  nor  Yakima  nor  any 
of  the  far-famed  and  highly  exploited 
fruit-growing  districts  afford  a  more 
ideal  combination  of  soil,  moisture,  tem- 
perature, altitude  and  climate.  There 
the  "big  red  apple"  attains  its  perfection  in  size,  color, 
conformation,  flavor  and  keeping  qualities  The  favorite 


Peaches  are  a  very  profitable  crop  in  the  Boise  Valley. 


Page  30 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


varieties  are  the  Rome  Beauty,  Jonathan,  Winesap,  Ar- 
kansas Black,  Delaware  Red.  A  sight  of  a  Boise  Valley 
orchard  toward  picking  time,  with  the  ground  cultivated 
and  free  from  weeds,  the  trees  clean  and  shapely,  and 
boughs  bent  to  earth  under  a  precious  burden  of  rarest 
fruit,  showing  no  speck  or  stain,  and  tinted  a  deep  crim- 
son or  a  glowing  yellow  by  the  generous  sun ;  such  a 
sight  is  a  revelation  to  the  orchardist  from  New  York  or 
Michigan,  and  cannot  but  fill  him  with  amazement  and 
envy. 

Trees  reach  full  bearing  capacity  from  five  to  seven 
years  after  planting,  and  average  from  8  to  10  boxes  of 
packed  fruit  to  the  tree.  This  fruit  always  commands  the 
highest  market  price,  in  competition  with  the  products  of 
the  world,  and  is  shipped  successfully  and  profitably  to 
England  and  Europe.  The  price  ranges  from  $1.75  to 
$3.00  and  $3.50  a  box.  Ten  acres  of  apple  trees  properly 
cultivated,  sprayed,  picked  and  packed,  should  return 
to  their  owner  over  $3.000.00  per  year,  year  in  and  out. 
The  expense  in  time  and  money  is  very  small,  and  the  net 
income  but  little  below  the  gross. 

Prunes 

N  the  production  of  prunes,  next  to 
apples,  in  acreage  in  the  Boise  Valley, 
the  facts  are  still  more  wonderful.  After 
careful  consideration  and  comparison,  it 
is  stated  and  successfully  maintained 
that  in  the  production  of  prunes,  the 
Boise  Valley  takes  the  palm  from  the 
whole  world.  Not  only  are  they  superior 
in  size  and  quality,  but  it  has  been  found  by  frequent  proof 


that  the  Boise  prune  will  undergo  the  effects  of  packing 
and  long  shipment  and  reach  the  market  in  better  condi- 
tion than  the  prune  from  any  other  region.  In  the  past 
year  prunes  brought  to  the  seller  $30.00  per  ton,  loose,  net. 
The  favored  varieties  are  Italian,  Hungarian,  Silver, 
Golden,  Petite.  Fifty-two  cars  of  French  and  Italian 
prunes  shipped  from  Boise  in  1907  brought  $42,000.00 
f.  o.  b. 

One  orchardist  a  few  miles  from  the  city  of  Boise,  with 
40  acres  of  prunes,  takes  from  them  over  $7,500.00  worth 
of  fruit  every  year. 

Truth  That  is  Stranger— and   Better- 
Than  Fiction 

NOTHER  statement,  and  one  that  is  not 
exceptional,  but  especially  significant,  is 
that  of  a  10-acre  plot  set  out  to  Italian 
prunes,  cherries  and  berries.  The  plot 
contains  a  house,  barn,  the  customary 
outbuildings  and  vegetable  garden.  In 
1905  it  yielded  45,799  pounds  of  prunes, 
for  which  the  owner  received  $457.99  in 
the  orchard,  and  $1,112.00  for  the  cherries  and  berries.  In 
1906,  87,000  pounds  of  prunes  were  picked,  which  brought 
1  cent  a  pound  in  the  orchard — $870.00 — and  the  other 
crops  yielded  about  $800.00.  In  1907  the  prune  crop  grew 
to  89,000  pounds,  with  the  price  at  1  1-2  cents  a  pound — 
$1,235.00  for  the  prunes,  which,  with  the  $1,400.00  which 
came  from  the  cherries  and  small  fruit,  aggregated  the 
very  handsome  sum  of  $2,635.00 — gross  returns  from  10 
acres  for  one  year.  In  addition,  the  place  supported 


Slate  Capitol  building  l«  be  greeted  ,„  Btiise. 


A  group  of  hoims  in  Boise.     Boise  is  knoivn  as  the  City  Beautiful. 


.•I  not  her  Group  of  Boise  Homes. 


Page  34 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


chickens,  a  cow  and  horse.  With  the  exception  of  extra 
help  needed  during  picking  time,  all  the  work  was  done 
by  the  owner  and  his  wife.  Unfortunately,  account  was 
not  kept  of  the  sums  paid  out  in  this  manner,  but  they 
were  not  large,  and  the  net  returns  were  not  far  from 
$2,500.00.  So  much  for  an  illustration — drawn  from  life—- 
of the  possibilities  of  a  10-acre  fruit  farm  in  the  Boise 
Valley. 

A  Commonplace  Story 

lERE  is  another  story,  not  so  remarkable, 
and  not  unusual  in  any  way.  In  fact, 
the  deponent  was  not  a  scientific  farmer, 
not  notably  ambitious,  and  his  land  was 
hardly  the  best.  It  is  included  simply  to 
show  what  an  average  man  does  on  an 
average  farm  in  the  Boise  Valley.  On 
the  60  acres  in  question,  the  farmer  had 
a  little  prune  orchard  of  3  1-2  acres.  Twenty-five  acres 
he  sowed  to  oats,  which  went  90  bushels  to  the  acre.  The 
remainder  was  put  into  alfalfa  and  diversified  products, 
with  a  little  pasture.  He  fed  5  hogs.  30  goats,  3  cows  and 
4  horses.  His  prunes  brought  him  $620.00,  and  the  total 
gross  returns  were  $1,700.00  in  cash.  He  had  no  regular 
help,  and  a  goodly  part  of  the  sum  went  into  the  bank. 
That  is  a  commonplace  story,  told  by  a  commonplace 
farmer  to  the  writer  as  he  was  driving  through  the  Valley; 
but,  commonplace  as  it  is,  it  is  significant  to  the  highest 
degree. 

The  "moral"  of  this  story  is  that  (.lie  land  and  clim;ile 
and  water  in  the  Boise  Valley  have  joined  forces,  as  it  were, 
to  produce  the  most  possible.  How  well  they  do  is,  of 


course,  in  the  final  analysis  a  question  of  the  personal  equa- 
tion. One  may  do  better  than  another — but  the  average 
man  will  do  better  here  than  he  can  in  loss  favored  regions. 
This  is  the  important  fact. 

In  addition  to  the  apples,  prunes  and  cherries  already 
discussed,  other  fruits  do  equally  well,  but  are  not  pro- 
duced so  extensively.  Of  the  small  fruits,  strawberries 
have  proven  a  most  profitable  crop,  and  are  extensively 
cultivated.  For  the  present  season.  1908,  the  output  is  a 
half-million  boxes,  which  will  net  the  grower  8  cents  per 
box.  From  1 1-4  acres  one  man  took  two  crops,  the  first 
yielding  12,798  quarts,  and  the  second,  marketed  as  late 
as  November  17th,  2,280  quarts.  The  total  gross  income 
was  $1,196.75. 

Some  notion  of  the  extent  to  which  horticulture  is 
practiced  in  the  Boise  Valley  may  be  gained  from  the 
statement  that  in  1907  537  cars  of  fruit  under  ice  were 
shipped  to  Chicago  and  points  East.  Of  these  40  cars 
went  to  Europe.  The  value  of  the  crop  was  $3,432,000.00. 
This  from  a  total  acreage  of  51,876  acres. 

For  the  present  season,  1908.  50  carloads  of  material 
is  needed  for  packing.  This  includes  500,000  prune  crates, 
300,000  apple  boxes,  2,000,000  baskets,  5  cars  of  fruit  pa- 
per and  1  car  of  cement  coat  nails. 

Of  the  other  crops  grown  with  notable  success  the  po- 
tato is  worthy  of  mention.  Five  hundred  bushels  to  the 
acre  is  not  by  any  means  extraordinary.  One  farmer  re- 
ports for  1906,  six  acres  planted,  with  a  gross  return  of 
$1,780.00.  The  Following  yenr.  from  15  acres  $3,760.00 
worth  of  potatoes  were  laki-n.  In  each  yonr  about  $300.00 
worlli  w.'is  saved  for  sood  :md  Immp  use.  Thorp  are  no 
potato  Inigs  in  Idaho. 


The  Soldiers'  Home,  Boise. 


Page  36 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Sugar  Beets 

0  crop  lends  itself  to  cultivation  in  irri- 
gated districts  more  readily  than  the 
sugar  beet.  By  regulating  the  supply  of 
moisture,  the  irrigator  can  force  the 
beet  to  develop  the  highest  possible  per 
cent  of  saccharine  matter.  Sugar  beets 
will  yield  22  tons  to  the  acre  with  19.2 
per  cent  of  sugar.  In  the  Boise  Valley, 
with  an  acreage  of  26,019  to  sugar  beets,  the  total  tonnage 


Car  barn  and  sub-station  of  the  Boise  and  Interurban  Ry.  Co. 


was  245,940,  and  the  receipts  to  the  farmer  $908,500.00.  At 
Nampa,  not  far  from  Boise,  a  sugar-beet  factory  that  cost 
a  million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars  has  been  built.  Two 
others  are  under  erection,  and  the  industry  which  has 
given  such  flattering  assurance  of  profit-making  is  but  in 
its  infancy. 

A  Summary 

i  HIS  much,  then,  for  the  products  of  the 
soil  in  the  Boise  Valley.  The  most  cur- 
sory scanning  cannot  fail  to  impress  the 
reader  with  the  wonderful  productivity 
of  its  soil,  as  demonstrated  in  the  state- 
ments for  the  various  products.  If  he  is 
unfamiliar  with  conditions  in  irrigated 
.districts,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  is  in- 
credulous. It  is,  then,  not  out  of  place  to  repeat  that  the 
Boise  Valley  offers  conditions  for  agriculture  that  cannot 
be  duplicated  in  a  non-irrigated  country,  and  are  equalled 
by  bat  few  of  the  most  favored  irrigated  districts  of  Amer- 
ica. The  statements  made  are  as  near  the  exact  truth  as 
can  possibly  be  determined,  and  the  illustrative  cases  cited 
are  in  every  case  actual,  bona  fide  experiences,  reported 
either  by  word  of  mouth  or  over  the  signature  of  the  depo- 
nent. The  only  reason  the  names  are  withheld  is  that  it  is 
not  the  purpose  of  this  booklet  to  advertise  any  private  con- 
cern or  enterprise.  Many  of  the  letters,  however,  are  in 
the  possession  of  the  Boise  Commercial  Club,  and  the 
names  will  gladly  be  furnished  upon  application.  The  Club 
will  also  be  glad  to  give  any  other  information  in  detail 
regarding  points  suggested  to  the  reader  by  topics  in  this 
booklet.  It  is  impossible  to  cover  every  point  of  interest 
to  the  homeseeker  in  a  booklet  of  this  character. 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Page  37 


Stock  Raising 

0  chapter  on  the  Boise  Valley  is  complete 
without  reference  to  the  stock-raising 
industry.  The  absence  of  severe  weather 
in  the  "Winter,  the  abundance  of  rich  pas- 
turage, that  never  dries  up  in  the  Sum- 
mer, and  is  green  nearly  the  whole  12 
months,  the  quantity  of  succulent  al- 
falfa and  timothy  and  clover,  with  the 
scarcity  of  flies  and  other  pests,  all  combine  to  produce 
conditions  in  the  Boise  Valley  eminently  suited  to  the  rais- 
ing of  stock  to  a  most  gratifying  profit. 

Of  cattle,  the  favorite  breeds  are  for  beef,  Grade  Here- 
fords,  Short  Horns,  Polled  Angus ;  for  milk,  Short  Horns, 
Jersey,  Holstein ;  of  these  there  were  fed  in  the  Boise 
Valley  in  1907  22,600.  The  cattle  run  on  the  public  range 
from  April  1st  until  November  1st.  They  are  then  brought 
in  to  the  meadow  pastures,  where  they  graze  until  January 
1st.  Hay  is  fed  until  April.  Improbable  as  it  may  seem 
to  the  grazer  in  humid  districts,  the  cattle  are  finished  in 
five  months  from  the  range  on  alfalfa  and  clover,  without 
grain.  Hundreds  of  carloads  of  these  same  grass-fed 
cattle  have  been  shipped  to  Kansas  City  and  Omaha  and 
topped  the  market,  bringing  better  prices  than  the  grain- 
fed  steers  from  the  corn  belt.  The  difference  in  the  cost 
of  production  is  at  once  evident  to  the  man  with  the 
least  experience  in  feeding  cattle.  Even  were  it  necessary 
to  feed  grain  the  Idaho  stockman  would  have  a  great  ad- 
vantage. The  public  ranges  are  his ;  his  pasture  never 
fails;  he  does  not  have  to  feed  for  warmth — and  that  is 
important ;  nor  do  his  stock  lose  flesh  from  the  attacks  of 
flies  and  insects. 


Dairying  is  at  once  one  of  the  most  profitable  and  one 
of  the  least  developed  industries  in  Southern  Idaho.  All 
of  the  conditions  recited  heretofore  as  favorable  for  beef 
cattle  are  especially  adapted  to  the  dairy  cow — a  highly 
developed  and  delicate  member  of  the  bovine  family, 
highly  sensitive  to  environment  as  she  is.  In  the  Boise 
Valley  this  "gentlewoman  on  hooves"  finds  conditions 
exactly  suited  to  her  taste,  and  responds  with  an  abundant 
yield  of  milk,  with  the  highest  per  cent  of  butter-fat.  The 
market  for  butter  is  the  best  in  the  world.  Local  con- 


An  up-to-date  livery  barn  in  Boise. 


Irrigating  ditches,  Boise  Valley. 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Page  39 


sumption  is  far  in  excess  of  the  supply.  Southern  Idaho 
produces  only  2,000,000  pounds  of  butter  annually,  and 
consumes  7,000,000  pounds,  and  butter  will  average  33  1-3 
cents  per  pound,  reaching  45  cents  in  the  Winter  months. 
One  acre  in  Idaho  will  support  a  cow  the  year  round ;  three 
acres  are  required  in  Nebraska. 

Livestock 

F  great  magnitude  is  the  sheep-raising  in- 
dustry in  Idaho,  and  the  Boise  country 
has  its  full  share.  Exact  figures  are  not 
obtainable,  but  a  conservative  estimate 
would  be  at  150,000  sheep  for  this  dis- 
trict. Between  four  and  five  million 
pounds  of  wool  are  shipped  from  Boise 
and  neighboring  points  during  a  year. 
As  in  the  case  of  cattle,  sheep  feed  on  the  public  range, 
and  then  finish  on  the  rich  valley  pasturage.  Southern 
Idaho  ships  25,000,000  pounds  of  wool  every  year. 

The  Boise  Valley  is  a  center  for  the  production  of  fine 
horses.  Over  10,000  head  are  owned  in  the  district,  and 
many  carloads  of  French  and  Belgian  stallions  have  been 
imported,  insuring  the  breeding  of  the  finest  grade  of  draft 
horses. 

Many  a  farmer  has  become  rich  raising  hogs,  and  the 
Boise  farmer  is  no  exception.  Hogs  simply  revel  in  the 
rank  growth  of  clover,  and  are  fattened  and  finished  with- 
out grain  or  meal.  On  one  farm  a  herd  of  800  hogs  was 
seen,  many  ready  for  the  butcher,  not  one  of  which  had 
ever  seen  a  kernel  of  corn.  The  profit  of  raising  swine 
under  such  conditions  is  manifest. 


All  members  of  the  feathered  tribe  do  well  in  the  Boise 
Valley,  and  the  market  for  fowl  and  eggs  is  second  to 
none.  Bees  find  the  food  they  like  in  the  blossoming  fields 
of  clover  and  alfalfa,  and  fill  the  hive  with  a  superior  white 
honey. 

Mining 

ITHIN  the  rock-ribbed  treasure  chests  of 
Idaho,  Nature  has  hoarded  untold  min- 
eral wealth.  Its  discovery  many  years 
ago  first  attracted  to  the  state  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world,  won  her  a  star  in  the 
proud  galaxy  of  the  Nation,  and  still 
ranks  an  important  factor  in  her  wealth 
and  prosperity.  From  the  mineral  veins 
that  ramify  throughout  the  state  in  every  direction  have 
been  taken  hundred  of  millions  of  dollars  in  gold,  silver, 
lead  and  copper,  and  they  still  yield  royal  revenues  to  the 
pick  and  drill  of  the  miner.  The  search  of  the  prospector 
is  crowned  with  richest  rewards.  Nearly  every  stream 
shows  placer  gold  in  commercial  quantities.  It  is  said  that 
the  "gravel  bars  of  the  Snake  River  contain  gold  suffi- 
cient to  retire  the  National  debt  and  make  every  citizen 
of  the  state  of  Idaho  a  millionaire."  The  ore  bodies  of 
this  great  mineral  region  seem  practically  inexhaustible, 
and  new  disclosures  are  constantly  being  made  that  add 
their  quota  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  Idaho.  In  one  year 
the  total  value  of  mineral  products  was  $21,056,076.  Last 
year  the  various  mines  returned  in  dividends  (estimated) 
$6,500,000.  Lead  was  produced  to  a  total  of  225  million 
pounds;  silver  to  exceed  8  million  ounces;  copper.  11 


Page  40 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


million  pounds;  zinc,  nearly  5  million  pounds;  gold,  to 
the  value  of  one  and  one-half  millions  of  dollars.  The 
Boise  Basin  alone  has  produced  $200,000,000.00  in  placer 
gold.  A  mineralized  belt  of  untold  wealth,  several  hun- 
dred miles  in  length,  extends  within  six  miles  of  Boise. 
In  fact,  the  city  is  surrounded  by  valuable  mining  ter- 
ritories. Near  at  hand  are  extensive  tracts  of  gravel  beds, 
which  by  actual  test,  have  shown  big  values  in  gold,  and 
which  are  well  adapted  to  dredging,  and  which  will  yield 
enormous  profits  when  subjected  to  this  method.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  auriferous  veins  and  dykes  that  seam  the 
Boise  Basin,  there  is  one  lode  deposit  which  yielded  two 
million  dollars  in  bullion  when  worked  to  the  shallow 
depth  of  400  feet. 

Practically  within  the  environs  of  the  city  there  are 
promising  deposits  that  have  been  subjected  to  profitable 
operation.  At  the  Big  Giant  Mine  several  thousand  feet 
of  development  have  produced  good  returns.  Two  thou- 
sand feet  of  development  in  the  Ironsides  Mine  have 
yielded  ore  ranging  from  $30.00  to  $70.00  per  ton.  The 
"Twentieth  Century,"  the  Picket  Pin,  the  Celtic  and  other 
projects  have  demonstrated  the  profitable  nature  of  their 
properties.  The  Pearl  district  is  noteworthy  for  some  fine 
deposits,  extensively  developed.  The  many  mines  of  Owy- 
hee  County,  60  miles  to  the  south,  are  famous  for  their 
permanency  and  their  rich  deposits.  For  40  years  they 
have  averaged  $1.000,000.00  per  year.  In  the  "Seven 
Devils"  region,  100  miles  to  the  north,  valuable  prospects 
have  been  made,  that,  with  the  accessibility  that  will  fol- 
low railroad  facilities  now  under  construction,  will  yield 
richly.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  that  might  be 
mentioned  to  illustrate  the  "unsunned  treasures"  of 
Southern  Idaho. 


Although  Boise  is  hardly  a  "mining  town,"  yet  the 
city  profits  immensely  from  the  production  of  mineral 
wealth  of  the  state.  As  the  financial  and  distributing 
point,  much  of  the  business  of  the  mines  is  done  there, 
contributing  generously  to  the  prosperity  of  the  city.  A 
great  part  of  the  supplies  for  the  mining  camps  are  shipped 
from  Boise,  and  large  wagon  trains  may  be  seen  emerging 
from  the  city,  freighted  with  machinery,  tools,  powder, 
foodstuffs  and  general  supplies  for  the  isolated  camps  and 
minor  distributing  points.  The  United  States  Assay  Office, 
located  at  Boise,  received  in  1907  1,576  deposits  of  gold 
bullion.  The  deposits  vary  from  $1,000,000.00  to  $2,000,- 
000.00  annually. 

As  to  the  acquisition  of  mineral  lands,  they  are  open 
to  entry;  first,  as  a  quartz  claim,  1,500  feet  in  length  and 
600  feet  in  width ;  or  a  placer  claim  of  20  acres.  The  an- 
nual expenditure  of  $100.00  in  improvements  is  required. 

Timber 

DAHO  possesses  20,000,000  acres  of  tim- 
ber lands,  estimated  in  value  at  $1,125,- 
000,000.00.  Some  of  the  finest  bodies  of 
fir,  pine,  white  and  yellow  hemlock  and 
cedar  in  the  world  are  standing  within 
her  boundaries.  An  authority  on  timber 
has  estimated  the  standing  timber  at 
57,500,000,000  feet.  This  includes  the 
government  reserves.  Scattered  throughout  the  state  are 
.'U>0  sawmills — ono  said  to  lie  Ilio  largest  in  tin-  world — en- 
gaged in  reducing  the  great  logs  to  lumber.  Under  the 
section  on  the  City  of  Boise  is  found  a  statement  of  the 
mills  operating  near  the  city. 


Machinery  leaving  Boise  for  the  Mines. 


Page  42 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Water  Power 

0  statement  of  the  potential  resources  of 
the  state  would  be  complete  without 
some  reference  to  the  magnificent  water 
power  afforded  by  her  many  streams. 
The  Snake,  Boise,  Payette,  Weiser  and 
a  score  of  other  rivers  possess  the  vol- 
ume and  the  fall  necessary  to  develop 
power  sufficient  to  turn  the  wheels  of 


Lumber  Mill,  Boise 


the  world's  commerce.  Here,  too,  are  favorable  sites  for 
building  dams.  In  fact,  the  utilization  of  this  incalculable 
power  is  entirely  feasible,  needing  only  the  action  of  cap- 
ital for  its  development.  Already  several  plants  draw  their 
power  from  the  harnessed  torrents  of  the  river.  At  Swan 
Falls,  on  the  Snake  River,  25  miles  south  of  the  city,  10,000 
horse  power  is  developed,  applied  to  the  operation  of  the 
Interurban  Railroad  and  to  furnishing  light  for  Nampa 
and  Caldwell.  On  the  Payette  River,  21  miles  from  Boise, 
the  Horse  Shoe  Bend  Power  Plant  developes  2,000  h.  p., 
supplying  light  for  the  city.  The  Barber  Lumber  Mill  de- 
velops 1,000  h.  p.,  utilized  to  operate  its  own  plant,  and 
transmitted  to  one  of  the  street  railways  and  for  lighting 
purposes.  A  project  at  Oxbow,  on  the  Snake,  proposes  to 
take  30,000  actual  horse  power  from  the  river,  to  be  used 
for  power  and  lighting  in  near-by  communities.  And  this 
is  but  the  beginning. 

Boise  the  Head  and  Center 

0  much,  then,  for  the  resources  of  the 
country  tributary  to  the  city  of  Boise. 
Certainly  the  significant  question, 
"What  is  back  of  Boise,"  is  exhaustive- 
ly satisfied.  Everything  is  back  of 
Boise — such  marvelous  magnitude  and 
such  tremendous  possibilities  that  in 
their  aggregate,  the  mind  utterly  fails 
to  grasp  them !  And  of  it  all  Boise  is  the  acknowledged 
head.  Every  acre  that  is  reclaimed  by  an  irrigating  ditch 
adds  to  its  wealth.  Every  ounce  of  gold  taken  from  the 
mines  of  Idaho,  every  tree  felled,  every  horse  power  de- 


Entrance  Pierce  Park,  on  Boise  and  Interurban  Electric  Line. 


veloped  makes  for  the  progress  and  prosperity  of  the 
metropohs-Bo.e.  This  is  merely  the  workin/out  of  a 

denr^T?,  ^^  ^  The  state™nt  is  not  made  to 
deprecate  the  standing  of  any  other  community.  Idaho 
has  hundreds  of  progressive  towns,  sharing  the  common 
prospenty  and  playing  their  part  in  the  development  of 


the  state     But  none  of  them  is  a  competitor  of  Boise 
None  challenges  its  proud  place  as  metropolis 

(  reat  as  is  the  prestige  that  attaches  to  the  position 

1  capital  of  the  sovereign  state  of  Idaho,  of  far  greater 

importance  is  the  strategic  position  held  by  Boise  as  the 

icial  center  and  principal  distributing  point  between 


Page  44 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Salt  Lake  City  on  the  east  and  Portland  on  the  west. 
Conceive,  if  you  can,  the  significance  of  the  fact :  its  value 
to  Boise's  banks,  wholesale  houses,  its  corporations  and 
its  business  men. 

Granted  that  this  vast  area  is  an  undeveloped  one,  it 
is  also  true  that,  by  reason  of  the  stupendous  reclamation 
of  desert  land,  and  its  rapid  occupancy  by  settlers,  this 
region  is  developing  far  more  rapidly  than  other  sections 
of  the  United  States.  Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  other  sec- 
tion of  corresponding  area  has  ever  made  such  rapid  pro- 
gress.   Had  this  growth  occurred  simultaneously  with  the 
development  of  other  regions,  as  Western  Oregon,  Southern 
California,  et  al.,  Boise  would  today  be  a  city  of  200,000 
inhabitants.     That  she  will  reach  that  mark  and  exceed 
it,  is  the  confident  belief  of  every  one  at  all  familiar  with 
the  conditions  that  make  cities  grow.     Today  Boise  num- 
bers between  28,000  and  30,000  people,  all  enjoying  to  the 
highest  degree  the  health  and  prosperity  of  their  fair  city. 
If  "position  is  power,  and  the  right  place  on  the  map  a 
guarantee  of  greatness,"  Boise  must  be  destined  to  become 
one  of  the  great  cities  of  the  West.    This  is  the  inevitable 
conclusion  reached  by  all  who  give  the  question  careful  con- 
sideration, and  here,  again,  for  the  farmer,  the  banker,  the 
business  man,  the  situation  spells  "opportunity."     Indeed, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  condition  of  life  and 
environment  at  once  more  attractive  and  more  intrinsically 
prophetic  of  future  greatness.     For  this  is  not  only  Boise 
and  Idaho,  but  it  is  a  part  of   the    great    West — toward 
which  the  "course  of  empire"  has  been  making  for  cen- 
turies past  and  which,  unless  all  signs  fail,  is  soon  to  come 
into  its  own  as  the  most  attractive,  the  most  fertile  and 
the  most  wonderful  part  of  the  world.     Let  us  now  look  at 
Boise  as  a  city  in  more  detail. 


"Boise  the  Beautiful" 

OISE  THE  BEAUTIFUL"  is  not  a  mean- 
ingless catchword,  but  an  expression 
coined  in  the  mint  of  reality.  The  first 
impression  of  the  visitor  to  Boise  is  that 
of  the  physical  loveliness  of  the  city — a 
loveliness  due  in  part  to  the  endow- 
ments of  a  beneficent  nature — an  en- 
vironment that  provides  a  fit  setting — 
and  in  part  to  the  municipal  pride  of  the  citizen.  The 
broad  streets,  paved  and  kept  scrupulously  clean ;  the 
numerous  shade  trees;  the  many  beautiful  homes,  sur- 
rounded by  well-groomed  lawns  and  beds  of  blooming 
flowers;  the  splendid  appearance  of  the  business  blocks; 
together  with  the  total  absence  of  those  disreputable 
shacks  and  eye-sores  that  destroy  the  beauty  of  many 
a  city.  All  these  things  combine  to  produce  a  picture 
of  loveliness  that  clings  to  the  memory  as  a  permanent 
impression. 

Boise  is  a  wholesale  and  manufacturing  center  of  con- 
siderable importance  to  the  Northwest  generally,  and  of 
first  rank  in  the  Inland  Empire.  It  has  18  wholesale 
houses,  which  handle  practically  all  lines  but  drugs.  Dur- 
ing the  past  six  months  of  1908  two  new  houses,  with  n 
combined  capital  of  $200,000.00,  were  established  there  by 
outside  people.  New  money  such  as  this  is  constantly  com- 
ing into  the  city  from  many  different  sources.  The  whole- 
sale business  of  Boise  from  June,  1907,  to  June,  1908,  was 
$4,310,000.00,  the  pay  roll  during  that  time  was  $280,290.00, 
and  the  number  of  men  employed  271,  an  average  of 
$1,034.00  to  the  man.  The  total  capital  invested  in  the 
wholesale  business  is  $1,216,700.00. 


Churches,   Boise. 


Page  46 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Boise's  manufacturing  business  is  now  but  a  pigmy  to 
what  it  will  be  in  ten  years;  nevertheless,  its  size  is  al- 
ready commendable,  and  it  grows  rapidly.  Electric  power 
is  cheap  there,  power  lines  which  will  transmit  to  exceed 
200,000  horse  power  are  headed  for  Boise,  and  there  is  al- 
ready over  40,000  horse  power  ready  for  use  there.  This 
is  generated  by  the  water  falls  in  that  vicinity.  The  total 
value  of  Boise's  manufactured  products  during  the  year 
ending  June,  1908,  was  1,734,284.00,  the  capital  stock  in- 
vested $6,160,230.00,  the  pay  roll  $529,685.00,  and  the 
number  of  men  employed  625.  These  figures  partially  an- 
swer the  question,  What  is  behind  Boise?  They  are  taken 
from  the  statements  of  the  companies. 


One  of  Boise's  Industrial  Enterprises 


Climate 

HAT  climatic  conditions  are  a  big  asset  in 
the  success  of  any  community,  none  will 
deny.  Of  course,  men  will  live  wherever 
is  afforded  the  opportunity  to  make  a 
living;  but,  other  things  being  equal, 
surely  any  rational  man  or  woman  would 
prefer  to  live  in  a  country  where  six  days 
out  of  the  seven  are  sunny  days ;  where 
the  Winters  are  without  the  severe  cold  that  bites  to  the 
very  marrow,  the  Summers  without  the  extreme  heat  that 
enervates  and  prostrates,  and  where  there  are  no  heavy 
winds  or  severe  storms,  floods  or  tornadoes. 

The  following  statement,  prepared  by  the  U.  S.  Weather 
Bureau,  at  Boise,  conveys  statistical  information  of 
weather  conditions  for  Boise  and  the  near-by  country: 

The  climate  of  Boise  is  much  milder  than  that  of  places 
in  the  same  latitude  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
records  kept  at  the  local  office  of  the  U.  S.  Weather 
Bureau  show  the  mean  temperature  for  the  year  to  be  51 
deg..  which  is  only  about  1  deg.  lower  than  the  mean  for 
Springfield,  Illinois.  Comparison  with  the  distribution  of 
temperature  throughout  the  year,  however,  shows  that  the 
average  January  in  Boise  is  3  deg.  cooler  than  Springfield. 
The  temperature  occasionally,  about  once  in  three  years, 
goes  a  little  below  zero,  but  at  such  times  there  is  almost 
entire  absence  of  wind,  and  very  little  discomfort  results. 
Often  there  are  long  periods  in  the  Winter  months  where 
the  temperature  does  not  fall  to  the  freezing  point.  The 
mean  minimum  temperature  in  Winter  is  about  the  siunr 
as  that  at  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  or  Stillwater,  Okla.  Oc- 
casionally the  temperature  goes  above  100  deg.  in  Sum- 


=  ^^^= 

Teams  leaving  Boise  for  Thunder  Mountain  mining  district. 


The  building  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner  is  the  Carnegie  Library,  Boise.     The  other  buildings  are  Boise  public  schools. 


Idanha.  Hotel,    Boise. 


Page  50 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


mer,  but  this  is  for  only  a  short  time  in  the  afternoon, 
the  temperature  falling  rapidly  after  sunset.  The  nights 
are  ordinarily  delightfully  cool,  the  mean  temperature  for 
July  being  about  the  same  as  that  at  Duluth,  Minn.  The 
high  temperatures  are  accompanied  by  very  low  relative 
humidity,  and  sunstroke  is  practically  unknown. 

Mean  Temperature    

Mean  Maximum  Temperature 

Mean  Minimum  Temperature   

Average   Precipitation    

No.  of  days  with  rain  or  snoy 

No.  of  clear  days 

No.  of  partly  cloudy  days 

No.  of  cloudy  days 

Average  Hourly  Wind  Velocity... 

The  absence  of  high  winds  is  an  important  feature  of 
the  climate  of  Boise.  The  average  movement  of  the  wind 
is  about  five  miles  an  hour,  or  about  one-third  less  than 
the  average  at  Denver.  Windows  may  safely  be  left  open 
nearly  the  year  round,  and  discomfort  from  the  wind  is  al- 
most unknown. 

The  accompanying  table  of  meteorological  data  is  taken 
from  the  records  of  the  local  office  of  the  U.  S.  Weather 
Bureau  at  Boise,  and  covers  the  period  from  the  opening  of 
the  office,  in  December,  1898,  to  the  close  of  May,  1908. 

The  healthfulness  of  Boise  is  proverbial.  With  an  alti- 
tude of  2,800  feet,  the  air  is  clear  and  ivigorating.  Many 


a  sufferer  from  the  East  or  Middle  West  has  found  here  a 
relief  from  the  malaria  and  the  catarrhal  affections  that 
have  made  life  miserable  for  him.  Among  the  soldiers  at 
Boise  Barracks  the  U.  S.  Government  has  found  a  lower 
death  rate  and  a  greater  freedom  from  disease  than  at 
any  other  Army  post  in  the  United  States. 


JAN. 

FEB. 

MARCH 

APRIL 

MAY 

JUNE 

JULY 

AUG. 

SEPT. 

OCT. 

Nov. 

DEC. 

YEAR 

33 

36 

43 

50 

57 

64 

73 

71 

62 

53 

43 

33 

51 

38 

44 

52 

62 

69 

78 

89 

87 

77 

65 

52 

40 

63 

26 

27 

34 

39 

45 

51 

57 

56 

47 

41 

33 

26 

40 

1.89 

1.42 

1.44 

1.18    1 

.29 

0.88 

0.18 

0.16 

0.41 

1.28 

0.86 

1.72 

12.71 

13 

10 

14 

7 

7 

5 

2 

2 

3 

8 

10 

11 

92 

5 

6 

6 

8 

9 

13 

22 

19 

18 

15 

8 

8 

137 

8 

8 

10 

11 

13 

11 

7 

9 

8 

8 

9 

8 

110 

18 

14 

15 

11 

9 

6 

2 

3 

4 

8 

13 

15 

118 

4 

5 

6 

6 

6 

5 

5 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

5 

Railroads 

:  OISE  is  on  a  branch  of  the  Oregon  Short 
Line,  19  miles  from  the  main  line  at 
Nampa.  Survey  has  been  made  for  the 
construction  of  the  main  line  directly 
through  Boise.  Promoters  are  now 
working  on  a  project  from  Boise  to 
Butte,  and  from  Boise  to  Winnemucca, 
with  great  promise  of  success.  If  built, 
this  line  will  place  Boise  but  400  miles  from  Butte  and  600 
miles  from  San  Francisco.  It  will  connect  at  Butte  with 


Churches,  Boise. 


Scenes  in  Pierce  Park,  Boise. 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Page  53 


the  Great  Northern,  the  Northern  Pacific,  the  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  and  the  C.,  B.  &  Q.  At  Winnemucca  it  would 
connect  with  the  Western  Pacific  and  the  Southern  Pacific, 
thus  making  a  connecting  link  for  the  great  trans-con- 
tinental lines  of  the  North  and  South.  Another  one  of 
the  great  trans-continental  systems  is  headed  in  her  direc- 
tion. With  the  building  of  these  lines,  Boise  will  possess 
the  railroad  facilities  that  she  deserves. 

Facts  About  Boise 

[OISE  has  four  miles  of  streets  with  hard 
surface  pavements — asphalt  and  bitu- 
lithic — and  50  miles  of  cement  sidewalk. 
An  excellent  fire  department  is  support- 
ed, with  three  stations,  provided  with 
every  device  for  controlling  fires.  The 
total  loss  by  fire  for  1907  was  only 
$12,500.00 — a  showing  so  satisfactory 
that  a  decrease  of  20  cents  per  $100.00  was  made  by  the 
insurance  people.  An  efficient  police  force  is  maintained, 
and  crime  and  vice  are  reduced  to  the  lowest  degree.  The 
Sunday  closing  of  saloons  is  strictly  enforced.  In  fact, 
municipal  conditions  are  of  the  best,  quite  free  from  the 
corruption  that  has  tainted  the  fair  name  of  so  many 
cities  of  our  land. 

The  streets  are  adequately  lighted  by  electricity,  which 
is  also  furnished  for  domestic  use.  Water,  pure  and  cold, 
is  supplied,  and  what  is  indeed  a  unique  distinction,  nat- 
ural hot  water  flows  from  subterranean  reservoirs,  and  is 
used  for  heating  and  domestic  purposes  in  the  business 
houses  and  homes  of  the  city.  This  water,  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  170  degrees,  is  taken  from  three  artesian  wells, 


394  feet,  405  feet  and  455  feet  deep  respectively,  produc- 
ing 800,000  gallons  every  24  hours.  This  water  is  used 
for  heating  many  of  the  residences  and  business  blocks  of 
the  city,  and  many  of  the  streets  of  the  city  are  sprinkled 
with  it. 

This  water,  tempered  to  the  desired  degree,  is  used  in 
Boise 's  famous  Natatorium — an  institution  that  is,  properly 
enough,  a  feature  of  the  city.  In  this  palatial  structure, 
of  Moorish  architecture,  is  housed  the  second  largest  in- 
door swimming  tank  in  America.  The  plunge  alone  is  122 
feet  by  60  feet,  of  graded  depth.  With  60  private  rooms 
for  the  bathers,  commodious  parlors,  reading  room,  smok- 
ing and  billiard  rooms,  banquet  hall,  a  spacious  ballroom, 


Wholesale  House,  Boise. 


Page  Bi 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


and  the  environment  of  beautiful  landscape,  the  Natato- 
rium  contributes  in  no  small  degree  to  the  enjoyment  of 
life  in  Boise. 

To  say  of  a  city  that  it  is  a  "city  of  homes"  is  to  be 
guilty  of  unoriginality.  Perhaps  the  homes  of  Boise  are 
no  better  than  those  of  other  cities.  But  the  least  that 
can  be  said  is  decidedly  to  their  credit,  and  one  of  the 
lasting  impressions  of  Boise  is  of  the  attractiveness,  the 
architectural  fitness,  and  the  undeniable  "hominess"  of  its 
residences.  Its  business  streets  are  especially  noteworthy, 
lined  as  they  are  with  modern  commercial  buildings,  ar- 
tistically designed  and  substantially  constructed.  The 
Overland  Building,  Boise  City  National  Bank  Building, 
Sonna  Block,  Idanha  Hotel,  Idaho  Trust  and  Savings 
Building,  etc.,  etc.,  are  admirable  types  of  modern  muni- 
cipal architecture. 

The  hotel  facilities  are  at  least  equal  to  those  of  any 
city  of  its  size,  but  further  provision  for  its  guests  and 
accommodation  for  the  great  number  of  tourists  who 
throng  to  Boise  is  being  made  in  the  prospective  erection 
of  a  magnificent  new  hotel  to  cost  $300,000.00.  A  well- 
located  site  covering  an  entire  block  has  been  purchased 
at  a  cost  of  $100,000.00,  and  work  is  to  be  started,  in  all 
probability,  before  this  publication  reaches  the  public. 
Under  erection  also  is  the  new  Pinney  Theater,  at  a  cost 
of  $100,000.00,  which  will  provide  adequately  for  the  many 
first-class  companies  that  visit  the  city.  There  is  building, 
too,  the  one  million  dollar  State  Capitol  to  furnish  a  suit- 
able home  for  the  Solons  of  Idaho ;  of  dignified  beauty  is 
the  U.  S.  Federal  Building,  holding  the  P.  0.,  the  Weather 
Bureau,  Land  Office,  etc.  Though  this  building  has  been 
completed  but  three  years,  the  city  has  already  outgrown 


it,  and  Congress  has  appropriated  $125,000  for  an  addition. 
The  Assay  Office  (referred  to  under  section  on  Mining), 
with  its  setting  of  stately  trees  and  wide  expanse  of  vel- 
vety sward,  always  attracts  attention,  as  does  the  Public 
Library,  built  in  1905  at  a  cost  of  $25,000.00,  containing 
7,500  volumes,  a  well-equipped  reading-room,  etc. 

Many  of  these  buildings,  as  well  as  the  residences  of 
the  city,  are  built  of  an  excellent  native  building  stone, 
quarried  a  few  miles  from  Boise,  or  from  the  superior 
pressed  brick,  manufactured  from  clay  found  in  the 
vicinity. 

Churches  and  Schools 

LL  of  the  prominent  church  denomina- 
tions are  to  be  found  in  Boise,  some  with 
two  or  three  distinct  organizations,  and 
a  great  many  of  the  less  prominent  sects 
have  churches.  Many  of  these  are 
housed  in  edifices  of  marked  beauty  and 
support  ministers  of  far  more  than  or- 
dinary ability.  A  flourishing  branch  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  exists  in  Boise,  owning  their  own  building 
and  equipment,  and  with  a  membership  of  400.  This 
worthy  organization  receives  the  heartiest  support  of  the 
community. 

The  citizens  of  Boise  feel  that  they  may  justly  be  proud 
of  their  schools.  The  eight  school  buildings  represent  a 
property  of  $400,000.00.  Eighty-two  teachers  are  em- 
ployed, 15  in  the  High  School.  These  receive  an  aggre- 
gate salary  of  $70,000.00.  None  but  a  college  or  a  normal 
graduate  is  engaged.  Five  years  ago  there  were  2,400 
pupils  in  the  schools;  now  there  are  4,000.  In  that  period 


II  II II 1 1 , 

•  v   ••  *\  " 


Boise  City  National  Bank  Building.     The  Boise  Commercial  Club  occupies  the  entire  fourth  floor. 


Pagj  56 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


the  teaching  force  has  been  doubled.  There  are  325  in  the 
High  School  at  the  present  time,  with  a  graduating  class 
for  1908  of  41.  High  School  graduates  are  accredited  in 
all  colleges  that  receive  on  credentials.  Domestic  Science 
and  Manual  Training  are  taught,  and  military  drill  has 
been  introduced. 

In  addition  to  the  public  schools,  excellent  academies 
for  young  women  are  maintained  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
and  Episcopalian  Churches. 


The  Boise  Sash  and  Door  Factory. 


In  a  word,  the  school  facilities  of  Boise  are  of  the  best, 
and  neither  pains  or  expense  is  spared  to  provide  equip- 
ment and  instruction  that  is  inferior  to  none. 

Other  Institutions 

ONTR1BUTING  not  a  little  to  the  pictur- 
esqueness  of  the  city  is  the  military  post 
maintained  there.  The  U.  S.  Govern- 
ment has  recently  expended  $135,000.00 
for  the  improvement  of  the  Barracks, 
and  has  appropriated  $200,000.00  more 
for  the  same  purpose.  The  fact  that  the 
lowest  mortality  of  any  Army  post  in 
America  was  reported  from  Boise  Barracks  has  been  pre- 
viously mentioned.  Just  outside  the  city  there  is  situated 
also  the  Home  for  Veterans,  where  the  brave  soldier  of 
a  previous  day  makes  his  last  bivouac,  awaiting  the  final 
"taps."  The  State  Penitentiary  and  the  Institution  for 
the  Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind  are  also  located  at  Boise. 

In  the  fortunate  possession  of  so  many  sightly  public 
buildings,  Boise  presents  a  metropolitan  appearance,  sug- 
gesting a  population  several  times  greater  than  she  ac- 
tually claims. 

There  can  be  found  no  truer  index  of  the  prosperity 
of  a  city  than  its  Postoffice  records.  For  1906  the  total 
postal  receipts  for  Boise,  including  deposits  from  sub- 
sidiary offices,  were  $87,356.00.  For  1907,  they  were 
$107,464.  That  is  an  annual  increase  of  $20,000.00,  or 
about  25  per  cent.  Another  significant  comparison  is  that 
of  the  money  order  business  done  in  1898  and  1907.  In 
the  former  year  it  amounted  to  $957,063.00;  in  the  latter 
$1,989,075.00.  In  other  words,  the  money  order  business 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Page  57 


more  than  doubled  in  nine  years.     Such  evidence  of  the 
growth  of  a  city  is  incontrovertible. 

Electric  Lines  and  Parks 

OISE  is  served  by  three  street  railways, 
operating  about  80  miles  in  and  about 
the  city.  Two  interurban  lines  are  in- 
cluded, one  to  Caldwell,  already  complet- 
ed, and  to  Nampa,  which  is  nearing  com- 
pletion; and  other  lines  and  extensions 
are  projected,  and  will  surely  be  built. 
It  is  only  a  matter  of  a  few  years  when 
Boise  will  be  the  nucleus  for  a  network  of  electric  lines,  for 
the  country  is  especially  adapted  to  support  a  thickly  set- 
tled population,  which,  with  the  many  villages,  will  provide 
ample  business  for  the  electric  lines. 

The  Boise  and  Inter-urban  Railway,  operating  the  line  to 
Caldwell,  possesses  an  equipment  inferior  to  none  in  the 
land.  It  has  a  private  right  of  way,  securely  fenced,  double 
trolley,  heavily  ballasted  roadbed,  with  72-pound  rails.  A 
22,000  volt  alternating  current  is  used,  and  the  cars,  of  the 
latest  design,  attain  a  speed  of  45  and  55  miles  an  hour.  In 
addition  to  the  passenger  business,  freight,  express  and 
mail  are  carried. 

On  the  line  is  situated  Pierce  Park,  which  has  recently 
been  added  to  the  attractions  of  the  city.  It  is  a  beautiful 
wooded  tract  of  182  acres,  of  which  35  acres  are  occupied 
by  a  charming  little  lake,  equipped  with  rowboats  and 
launches.  In  the  park  the  act  of  man  has  effectively  util- 
ized the  provisions  of  nature.  Bosky  copses  invite  the  vis- 
itor to  rest  in  their  shade.  Pleasant  roads  and  paths  lead 


to  forest  glades,  opening  at  every  turn  a  new  vista  of 
sylvan  loveliness.  Places  for  picknickers,  refreshment 
booths,  a  dancing  pavilion,  etc.,  are  to  be  found,  but  care 
has  been  taken  not  to  intrude  upon  the  natural  beauty  of 
the  spot,  which  is  a  conspicuous  acquisition  to  the  attrac- 
tiveness of  the  city. 

Boise  is  thus  characterized  by  that  which  makes  the 
struggle  for  existence  not  only  extraordinarily  productive, 
but  attractive  as  well.  It  has  been  shown,  we  believe,  that 
the  land  vields  forth  its  increase  in  bountiful  measure. 


A  View  in  the  Wholesale  District,  Boise. 


Page  58 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Hunting  and  Fishing 

T  Boise  the  sportsman  enjoys  the  fullest 
opportunity  for  the  pursuit  of  his  favor- 
ite pastime.  Within  a  short  driving  dis- 
tance from  the  city  are  Shaffer  Creek. 
Harris  Creek,  Canyon  Creek,  Long  Tom, 
Cottonwood.  Rattle  Snake,  etc.,  and  any 
one  of  which  will  yield  the  angler  the 
rarest  sport  in  the  world.  All  the  favor- 
ite varieties  of  trout  are  here,  including  the  Rainbow  and 
Dolly  Varden,  and  a  few  hours'  fishing  will  yield  the 
angler  more  than  he  can  carry.  In  June,  July  and  August 
the  fish  answer  readily  to  the  fly. 

For  the  hunter  the  Quail,  Fool  Hen,  Jack  Snipe,  Sage 
Hen,  Ducks  and  Geese  abound ;  and,  if  he  seek  larger  game, 
a  short  trip  to  the  mountains  will  bring  him  in  reach  of 
deer  and  bear,  with  cougars  and  bobcats  to  add  zest  to  the 
sport. 

The  Business  of  Boise 

X  previous  connection,  stress  has  been 
put  on  the  importance  of  Boise  as  a  finan- 
cial center  and  distributing  point.  Boise 
has  six  banks  whose  deposits  aggregate 
over  $6,000.000.00  and  "clears"  Idaho, 
Wyoming  and  Western  Utah. 

The  wholesale  business  of  Boise  has 
shown  remarkable  strides  during  the 
past  three  years.  The  investment  of  new  capital,  and  the 
aggressive  policies  pursued  by  the  jobbers  have  been  instru- 


mental in  opening  up  new  territory  from  which  Boise  was 
formerly  excluded,  owing  to  conditions  of  freight  rates. 

The  territory  covered  by  Boise  now  extends  from  Poca- 
tello  on  the  East  to  Baker  City,  Oregon,  on  the  West,  and 
South  as  far  as  Owyhee,  Nevada,  and  North  into  Pollock 
and  Goff,  Idaho. 

There  are  some  fifty-seven  traveling  men  who  travel 
from  Boise,  and  do  business  of  approximately  six  million 
dollars  per  annum. 

Some  picturesque  features,  not  usually  seen  in  jobbing 
(•filters,  are  to  be  observed  in  Boise  at  certain  times  of  the 
year,  when  merchandise  is  loaded  out  on  pack  trains  for 
distant  points  in  the  mountains  which  are  reached  only  by 
narrow  trails. 

Boise  has  all  sorts  of  communication  with  the  outer 
world  by  electric  and  steam  lines  and  the  old-fashioned 
stage  coach,  which  still  continues  to  roll  into  this  pictur- 
esque city. 

Although  Boise  is  not  primarily  a  manufacturing  center, 
yet  there  are  here  many  thriving  concerns  producing  raw 
and  finished  lumber,  sash,  door  and  fixtures,  boxes,  pressed 
brick,  beer,  liquors,  harness,  saddlery,  roofing,  cigars, 
candy,  oil,  glue,  etc.,  etc.  Of  these  the  lumber  mills,  of 
which  there  are  five,  are  the  most  prominent.  The  largest 
has  a  capacity  of  130,000  feet  daily,  and  in  1907  shipped  700 
cars  of  lumber  and  finished  products.  Other  statistical 
matter  might  be  included,  but  to  small  purpose:  The  op- 
portunity for  the  capitalist  along  manufacturing  lines  is 
great.  Here  we  have  the  raw  material  of  greatest 
variety  and  in  unlimited  quantity ;  power  is  inexhaustible 
in  the  rushing  rivers,  and  a  market  that  is  already  great 
and  every  day  assuming  greater  proportions.  These  condi- 


Private  schools  and  academies  in  Boise. 


V-  -*+ 


BOISE,     IDAHO 


Page  61 


tions  create  opportunity,  and  the  man  with  money  or  the 
man  with  brains  and  energy  will  find  here  an  unparalleled 
field  where  the  investment  of  capital  or  of  energy  will  yield 
richest  returns. 

Final  Word 

:  UCH,  then,  is  the  story  of  Boise  and  the 
Boise  country — a  story  that  is  full  of  the 
extraordinary,  the  marvelous,  and  yet  a 
story  composed  of  truths  and  facts,  un- 
colored  in  the  telling.  Whether  the  nar- 
rative of  the  story  of  Boise  is  well  done 
or  ill,  depends  of  course,  upon  the  writer. 
But  be  it  good,  or  bad,  the  facts  are 
there,  and  in  those  facts  there  is  a  message  for  every  man 
or  woman  who  finds  himself  dissatisfied  with  life  under 
present  conditions.  He  may  not  even  be  dissatisfied,  but 
open  to  the  honest  conviction  as  to  the  merits  of  a  land 
that  offers  to  him  an  opportunity  to  live  under  conditions 
more  advantageous,  more  delightful  than  those  of  his  pres- 


ent home.  Life  is,  at  best,  a  struggle,  but  it  is  certainly 
the  inalienable  privilege  of  every  man  to  select  a  place 
where  conditions  are  most  in  his  favor,  where  the  chances 
for  success  are  the  best.  Whether  the  reader  dwell  in  a 
factory  town  in  New  England,  a  New  York  flat  or  a  farm 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  to  him  a  welcome,  hearty  and 
generous,  is  extended.  If  he  has  failed  elsewhere  in  the 
struggle  against  unfair  odds,  here  he  can  begin  life  anew 
under  circumstances  that  are  anything  but  unfavorable. 
If  he  wishes  to  give  his  sons  and  daughters  a  better  chance 
than  he  had,  surely  none  better  can  be  found. 

The  chance  to  invest  your  money,  or  your  brains,  or  the 
strength  of  your  hands  to  best  advantage,  and  to  live  under 
conditions  most  favorable  for  health  and  happiness:  that, 
in  a  word,  Boise  offers.  That  is  the  message  of  this  book- 
let. Its  import  is  certain ;  its  meaning  clear.  Let  its  les- 
son sink  deep  into  your  heart.  If  it  grows  into  a  convic- 
tion, do  not  hesitate,  but  act,  and  to  your  dying  day  you 
will  never  cease  to  rejoice  that  you  found  a  home,  health 
and  happiness  in  the  beautiful  City  of  Boise,  Idaho. 


Note. — The  illustration  on  the  fourth  page  of  the  cover  shows  the  Barber  Power  Plant,   Lumber  Mill,  and  dam  across  the 

Boise  River,  near  Boise. 


Jf-  «•» 


Winter  Grazing  on  Davis  Ranch  near  Boise. 


HMMF-iS 


I  Mr- 

-  I..;., 


Map  of  Boise,  Idaho. 


c    -    * 

TOMESEEKERS'  BUREAU 


IlEli 


